Obamacare meets March Madness

With the arrival of college basketball’s March Madness, the White House is looking to capitalize on the annual tournament to encourage Americans to enroll in Obamacare.

The promotional effort will include athletes and coaches as well as administration officials, according to a White House official, and will begin on Monday. Sunday was “Selection Sunday,” the day the teams in the tournament are announced and the schedule and bracket are released.

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The White House plans to release its own bracket Monday as part of the effort, “16 Sweetest Reasons to Get Covered,” timed with the annual release of President Barack Obama’s bracket this week, and the president and high-ranking administration officials will conduct interviews on a variety of outlets coordinated with the push, which will also include social media.

Also Monday, a video featuring “two of the most-recognized coaches in college basketball,” according to the official, will help launch the bracket. Other athletes and coaches will be involved in PSAs and an ad starring Miami Heat star LeBron James will air across several sports channels and ABC.

A number of high-profile athletes have supported the president’s health care initiative, including greats like Magic Johnson, Alonzo Mourning and James.

The White House is looking to urge Americans to sign up for health care before the March 31 deadline for open enrollment. So far, the administration has announced more than 4 million signups, far short of the 6 million goal they had set (down from 7 million after the HealthCare.gov botched rollout).